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Businesses oppose Wisconsin clean energy plan

Wisconsin's business community is divided
over Gov. Jim Doyle's clean energy plan that calls for increasing
the use of renewable fuels and opens the door to nuclear power,
with opponents saying the new mandates will weaken Wisconsin's
already struggling manufacturing sector.

Doyle's plan was introduced in the Legislature on Wednesday and
the governor discussed it Thursday at a news conference in Madison.

He and other proponents, including large employers like auto
parts and building products maker Johnson Controls, argue it will
improve the environment and create thousands of green-energy jobs.

"Other states and other countries have moved far down the road
in building a green energy economy," Doyle said. "We have to make
sure that Wisconsin is well positioned as we move forward."

But the state's largest business lobbying group, Wisconsin
Manufacturers and Commerce, said the new mandates will increase
energy costs and hurt businesses, especially large electricity
users.

"With 9 percent unemployment, we should be focusing on ideas to
create jobs like cutting taxes, controlling spending, controlling
red-tape, and clamping down on frivolous lawsuits," said Scott
Manley, director of environmental policy for WMC.

Twenty-three of the state's largest business groups,
representing contractors, home builders and fuel retailers, sent
Doyle and lawmakers a letter last month citing a study that said
the proposal will result in a loss of more than 43,000 jobs and
cost billions of dollars.

Doyle and other supporters of the bill have discounted that
study by the conservative interest group Wisconsin Policy Research
Institute, saying it looked at proposals that weren't in the final
plan like rules limiting carbon dioxide emissions from major
sources.

Citing a study by Doyle's Office of Energy Independence, the
governor said the bill would actually create 15,000 jobs by 2025.

Under the plan, dubbed the Clean Energy Jobs Act, 25 percent of
the state's energy must come from wind, solar, biomass or other
renewable sources by 2025. The current goal is 10 percent by 2015
and at the end of 2008 the state was at nearly 5 percent. Wisconsin
currently relies heavily on coal, which is a major source of
greenhouse gases that contribute heavily to rising global
temperatures.

It will cost $16 billion through 2025 to comply with the
renewable energy mandate, according to WPRI. The emission stands
will cost about $1,000 for every new car sold, the report said.

Environmental groups deny those estimates, saying they are based
on flawed economics.

Additionally, Doyle's proposal would make building codes more
strict to increase energy efficiency, restrict idling of freight
trucks to reduce pollution and adopt vehicle emissions standards
similar to many other states, including California. The proposal
also sets a goal of reducing energy consumption 2 percent by 2015.

The bill would remove Wisconsin's ban on nuclear energy, which
has been in place for more than two decades.

That provision drew opposition from some peace and anti-nuclear
groups that said renewable energy technologies are faster, cheaper,
and cleaner than nuclear power.

Doyle said no one expects a nuclear power plant to be built in
Wisconsin any time soon.

"I don't think anybody should be too alarmed one way or the
other on this," Doyle said. "All this is saying is we should at
least consider it."

The proposal, being introduced by state Rep. Spencer Black,
D-Madison, will pit environmentalists against many in the state's
business community in what is expected to be one of the most
contentious issues taken on by the Democratic-controlled
Legislature this year.

A coalition of large electricity-using manufacturers also issued
a statement opposing the bill, saying it will drive up rates and
put Wisconsin at a competitive disadvantage.

But another group including energy companies, MillerCoors,
Johnson Controls and others said it strongly supported the plan,
calling it "a carefully constructed compromise based on the
positions of industry leaders, citizens, environmental groups, and
members of state government."

The bill is closely modeled off of recommendations released in
2008 by a global warming task force. Doyle created the task force
to find ways to combat climate change in Wisconsin, saying higher
temperatures could cause drought, destroy wetlands and reduce
already-low Lake Michigan levels.